A Companion for all Time - 2. Chapter 2 - One, two, three

“This will be your room until tomorrow night, if you need anything just ask one of the guards posted outside of your door. There is a bath tube for your convenience, and it would be a good idea to make good use of it.”

How dare he talk to me about hygiene! He doesn’t know what’s it’s like in the 6^th, but before I can answer he adds:

“Look kid I know that you probably couldn’t bath in the 6^th, but tomorrow you are going to Capital Island. It’s not something against you, I don’t really care personally, but they won’t. You don’t have to of course, but it would be wiser.”

He’s right of course, and maybe a bath would be nice, haven’t had one in a long time. I think for a second before asking him:

“Do you think I could some new clothes, I mean Mayor Andras didn’t have the time…”

“Of course, I’ll send someone up soon. I don’t think orphan’s clothes will do anymore.”

“I don’t understand sir, what’s so special with me.”

Around my neck Avenia stirs and lifts her head.

“Your soul-bond is a very rare kind. It means you have the highest magical affinity possible for a human, and to represent that your soul took the form of a sky-dragon. Legends say that this ancient and now extinct race is the one that was the first to manipulate magic. Our ancients studied them closely to make these Island’s actually… Don’t they teach you this kind of thing in school?”

“Do I look like the type of kid that got to go to school?” I ask him sarcastically.

“True enough, anyways go take a bath. Maybe even two, I’ll send someone up.”

“Thank you.” Ma’ was able to drill in a bit of politeness in me before dying after all…

I close the door and head to the tub. Pipes run on the walls and the ceiling of the washroom, a simple electric light bulb hangs from the ceiling. I look at it in wonder for a while, that too I hadn’t seen in… in years actually. I sigh and get rid of my very dirty clothes. I look at them one last time (I hope). The shirt was plain but had a few holes and burn marks, while the pants had just one big hole, near my ass, which isn’t great let me tell you.

I turn the water on, soon steam invades the room and I place a tentative foot in the tub. The water is maybe a bit too hot, but I don’t care. Slowly I lower myself in the water, hissing a bit as the hot water comes in contact with my skin. I lie there for a while, taking in the heat. Again I think of how long it had been since I last took a bath. I close my eyes and let my head go under.

I’m back at our hide out, Lin and Fale are asleep in a corner. I remember this morning, it wasn’t that long ago. I remember getting up and leaving for the day. Morning was a blur, but the afternoon I won’t forget anytime soon. I was looking for something to steal, and was about to decide myself on a few things from Old Mac when someone called me.

“Irion!” that voice I knew, it was Fill, the guy that had taken care of me after the accident. I hadn’t seen him in a while, not since his sixteenth birthday a few years back. It’s a duty for us boys on the streets: we take care of the little ones until we turn sixteen so they too can take care of others when the time comes. Girls don’t live in the street, they live in state ran homes. From what I hear, sometimes it’s even worse than the street. We’re orphans not like anyone cares about us really…

Anyways I remember turning towards my old friend, he was smiling at me. He came and took me in his arms, he had always been pretty big so he had no trouble lifting me off my feet. We talked for a while about what had happened in the time that we hadn’t seen each other. He had gotten a job in one of the many factories of Zarch and was making a small living. He invited me to his house, and I was stupid enough to trust him, counting on the old ties of friendship that bounded us together. Once I was in he slammed the door shut and pinned me against a wall. He shouted at me a bit then took me in a room with six men in it. I remember being forced on my knees in front of them. They started bidding for me, after a while one of them won me. He grave to money to Fill and then dragged me to a side room. There he roughly undressed me and threw me on the bed. Scared I didn’t fight, I knew what he wanted, and I was not going to fight him, it always ended badly for the orphan. He too got undressed then shoved his cock in my mouth. I grin at the thought that it was pretty small compared to mine, and I was just 15! But at the time I was too scared to grin. He face-fucked me a minute before coming in my mouth. I spat it out and that was that. He got dressed and knocked on the door, someone opened it from the outside. Was it an accident, was it luck? But they left the door open just a tiny bit. Quickly I got dressed and left without a sound. I had made it a few streets before I lurched towards an alley and threw up. Vomit tasted better than that bastards cum trust me.

I feel that I have to take a breath. I break the surface, and for just a second I thought I was back home. I start scrubbing myself thoroughly, dirt, and other things start to leave my skin. For as long as I can remember my skin has been brown with dirt and filth, but what I find under that thick layer of grime is a pale skin. I scrub harder for some reason. Frantically I scrub myself everywhere, leaving it raw and red.

As I finish I am completely out of breath. I look at my hands, red with the scrubbing they got and the hot water. Shaking myself out of this sort of daze I went in I stand up and step out of the bath. The water is dark and filthy. I let it empty as I walk around my bedroom, naked and dripping with water. I look at myself in the mirror. My hair would need a good cleaning too, the rest of my body is ok I guess.

I go back to the tub and fill it back up. As I get in this time I go under immediately. I pass a hand in my long black hair. Ma’ used to comb it every night, and told me that it was beautiful and that I should be proud of it. Beautiful? Maybe, useless? Totally. I just keep it in memory of her. Maybe I am a bit harsh though it might have helped me once or twice, but not much. Not the day of the accident at least.

I was with Ma’ in the house when Pa’ had come home from work. I remember that he was very tired, and he had slumped in his chair and let out a big sigh. Ma’ had sent me to get some bread from the baked a few houses down. Back then the 1^st was relatively safe, and I was used to going out alone at night for these sort of errands. The baker was a very nice man, and he sometimes gave me an extra loaf just for me he would tell me. Of course being honest, I usually gave it to Ma’. That night he was probably feeling a little lonely as he talked with me longer than other days. I didn’t mind, as I said he was a very kind man. I had paid for the bread, and had my extra loaf with me, and was heading back home when I smelled smoke. Now everyone in Zarch knows that smoke means trouble, most houses are wooden and touch each other so a fire spreads very quickly. Of course we have a few factories but the smoke doesn’t smell the same. Ma’ had always warned me that a fire could break out at any time, and she had told me time and time again to rush back home if I ever smelled smoke that I wasn’t used to. Like a good little boy I had ran back home, but as I had neared my home I had seen that the whole block was burning. Fear had taken hold of me and I had dashed as fast as my legs could carry me. My house was burning, and I could hear screaming inside. It took me a few years to realize that it had been my Ma’ and Pa’ that were screaming as they were burned alive.

I broke the surface again, gasping for air. I had stayed longer under water this time. I let water cover my whole body except my face and start washing my hair. Slowly but surely the filth falls away in the water. The water is probably as dirty as my previous bath…

Once again I empty the tub, and go in my room to look at myself again. My hair looks much better. Avenia is sleeping on the bed. I still have a bit of time left so I decide to take one last bath. I let the hot water run one last time before getting in one last time. I sit down and let myself think for a minute. Then I sigh, but I’m not sad, I am, in a way, content. I lie down completely in the water, and finally after taking a deep breath, I go under.

I can see Ma’ above me, smiling, as I sit in the tub of our house. Sunlight floods the simple room. Everything was made of wood, floor, ceiling, and walls, cursed wood. But at that moment I still had no clue as to how much I would hate that wood. Anyways Ma’ is scrubbing me gently with a sponge, talking to me in her sweet voice, I can’t remember the words, this memory is too old, but I can remember the sound of her voice. The sweet, gentle accents it has, and it takes me to another memory, the one of my seventh birthday, my last one with them. Ma’ had made a little cake just for me. It wasn’t very big or special, but it had sugar in it. Even for us considered wealthy for Zarch it was a rare sight. It was worth just as much as all of my other gifts, which were clothes and a toy Pa’ had carved himself. I remember their laughter, and my own as I laughed with them. That was just six little days before the accident, and I haven’t laughed since.

Slowly I rise from the tub, feeling relaxed for the first time in years. A little guilty though, as Lin and Fale are still in the 6^th… A knock draws me out of my thoughts. I roll a towel around my waist and go to open the door. A pudgy woman of maybe 40 is smiling in between the guards.

“Hello!” she squeals before coming in without me inviting her in.

She engulfs me in a tremendous hug that nearly chokes me to death. She is dressed all in pink in extravagant clothes. By reflex I take a few steps back and stay on my guards.

“I’m Emma. Oh this is so exciting!” she says in an overly optimistic tone, not noticing my more than questionable manners (I’m sorry but this woman is creeping me out!).

“Oh my it’s beautiful,” she adds when she sees Avenia, who is still sleeping, on the bed

“Who are you?” I ask her warily.

“I will be the one taking care of you until we get you to Capital Island of course! As soon as they learned there was another soul-bond that was a sky-dragon they sent for the owner immediately.”

“Why?” I ask harshly.

“Well to train him of course silly! You are going to be a wonderful mage!”

“Pardon me, what?”

“Well people with sky-dragon soul-bonds are extremely talented mages. It is your duty to learn the arts of the arcane for the good of the state!”

“What if I don’t want to?”

“Oh you are such a funny boy!” apparently not understanding that I wasn’t joking.

She then claps her hands twice and two, I think, servants come in with two large chests. They set them down then leave the room.

“Now let’s get started!” she looks me over from every angle possible, and then goes to one of the chests and opens it. Inside are enough clothes to dress every orphan of Zarch! She then takes a few, seemingly at random out, and holds them out and looks at me before making a little noise of displeasure and putting them back. My patience was beginning to thin but finally she holds out a black piece of clothing that I had no idea what to do with, I think some one of them was a pair of pants. I squint trying to figure it out before she giggles.

“Drop you towel silly, this are your undergarments and trousers.”

I turn crimson red, I will not let a woman that I barely know see me naked!

“Oh fine,” she sighs and turns around before handing me the pair of… things for me to put on. They are horribly tight and uncomfortable, but the fabric flows on my skin delicately and I enjoy the feeling of it.

“They are very tight ma’am,” I tell her.

“They are supposed to be dear!” she replies happily, smiling from ear to ear.

She then goes back to rummaging in her chests as I wait. I try to take a few steps around, and immediately I can feel the fabric tightening around my legs, how would I ever be able to run in these?!

“These should do nicely!”

Emma hands me a black and red shirt for me. Once again it is too tight and it seems I can’t breathe at all in it. It’s also itchy at the neck.

“My you look lovely! Now come here and sit your hair is a mess.”

I sit down where she is pointing, and wait for her to take out a comb. Instead she takes out a pair of scissors.

Not in my lifetime she will get to cut my hair!! I jump from the stool and skip around her to be as far from her as possible. I almost fell though as the tight clothes made me do a weird movement and I lost my balance.

“What’s wrong dear?” the witch asks innocently.

“No one cuts a single hair of my head,” I reply fiercely.

“Are you sure dear? It would look much better.”

I nod energetically.

“Well… will you let me give them some sort of shape, I promise not to cut them more than half an inch. I just want to be able to comb them after into a pony tail. Is that ok?” she looks troubled, maybe I was a bit too harsh.

“No more than half an inch?”

“No more I promise, now come back here dear, we still have a lot to do after this.”

Slowly I slide back to the stool and let her cut my hair, wincing as I see the strands falling to the ground.

After she is done cutting she starts combing my midnight-dark hair, slowly giving order to the chaos. She wants to tie it though, and we fight a little bit about that. Finally she relents and lets me keep it free. Next are my nails and toenails. She trims them nice and even, something I had never experienced before. When she is done I can’t help but feel the tip of my fingers with my thumb, for some reason it feels weird, like I’m missing something.

“Now that you look decent I need to teach you some manners, you seem to have a few basics but that simply won’t be enough in the capital…”

I won’t bore you with the details of the tedious lesson of good manners, but I will just say that it was very boring.

As we are finishing, someone knocks on our door. Emma goes to open, it’s the man that took me here. She lets him in and stands silently in a corner.

“You look much better boy, and just in time too. The zeppelin is arriving.”

As if by magic a giant shadow is cast on the smooth cobblestones outside.

“Thank you my lady for you efforts,” he adds before bowing respectfully to Emma.

“It was a pleasure general Marcus.”

A general, interesting might be useful later.

“The Prime Chancellor is coming in person, so please don’t embarrass yourself and Zarch.”

I snort, as if… I might have a lot a flaws, including being rebellious and arrogant, but I’m not stupid.

“Let us be on our way then.”

Avenia, that had been awake for a few minutes now, flew from the bed and wraps herself around my shoulder, like she had done before. This means I now had a moving, living, scaly black scarf in the dead of summer.

“I’m not a scarf!” she tells me in my mind.

“Sorry, it’s just that…”

“I know, I’m teasing you Irion, I have access to you thoughts you know.”

“And I can’t know yours?”

“Not yet, but maybe someday, just know that mine align to yours. We are bounded Irion, our souls are one, I am you and you are me.”

“I don’t get it.”

“I know that too, but you must remember this, you will need this information in the future.”

“Because you’re going to tell me you can tell the future too?”

“No of course not!” she chuckles. “But I can make educated guesses!”

We are now outside on Zarch’s Council Center, where the local governor tries to keep everything under control (and fails miserably). The perimeter is lined with armed guards that keep the zarchians at bay. A huge zeppelin is slowly finishing its landing. A gangplank is dropped and a richly dressed man steps out in the dwindling sunlight, a handkerchief covering his mouth and nose. Another rich city dweller that can’t stand the sweet aroma of Zarch. The general pushes me forward gently from my left. I step forward and bow like Emma just taught me. The governor of Zarch is also here, sweating like a pig.

“Welcome to Zarch you Excellency,” the governor says in a disgustingly sweet voice.

“Yes, yes whatever, I’m not here for you Ankip, where is our new Dragon Master?”

His eyes fall on me, still bowing, and he tells me:

“Dragon Master it is an honor to meet you,” and to my surprise he bows to me, is being bonded to a sky-dragon that respected? “We were a little surprised to have two new sky-dragons in a single day to say the least. The other Dragon Master is impatiently awaiting your arrival in Capital Island, and the King is very eager to meet you.”

The King? He has to be joking, why would the almighty king of our island want to meet me? An orphan from Zarch.

Not really knowing what to say I stay quiet, should I have talked? Whatever the case Emma intervenes for me.

“Please excuse the Dragon Master your Excellency, this is all rather overwhelming for such a young boy. He has assured me in private that he thrilled to go to Capital Island.”

What? I never said that!!

“My apologies Lady Emma, and yes I can understand that this might be a lot to take in for such a young mind.”

Do they always talk so formally? Doesn’t it get boring after a while?

“Your Excellency, might I recommend that you leave immediately. Nights in Zarch are… agitated. Besides as you said the King and the other Dragon Master are eager to meet young Dragon Master Irion.”

“True enough General Mallius. Dragon Master if you would please follow me.”

He turns and heads back inside the entrails of the zeppelin. I start to follow him but a shout attracts my attention.

“Irion!”

That squeaky little voice, it must be Fale. Sure enough he is with Mayor Andras and his wife, waving at me. Lin is there too, he waves at me too. Both are in decent clothes now too.

“General, would it be possible for you to thank Mayor Andras for me?”

“I will pass on the message young Dragon Master, and I can assure you they are in good hands. The people of the 6^th like Andras, they will be safe with him.”

“Thank you.”

I take one last look at Zarch, the place I come from, and turn to enter the zeppelin. To be honest my knees are shacking and I have a swarm of butterflies in my stomach, but I will do this, I will get away from Zarch. It’s what my parents always wanted for me after all. I clutch my key tightly in my pocket.

“Ma’, Pa’, I will make you proud!”

I step in the luxurious aircraft, ready to start a new life far from dark alleys, rapists, filth and smoke.